More Than Therapy: 20 Psychology Jobs You Should Consider
Psychology is one of the most popular majors in the country — and one of the most misunderstood. Ask someone what you can do with a psychology degree, and they’ll probably say, “become a therapist.” But the field has always been much bigger than that.
In fact, when the world’s first experimental psychology lab opened in 1879, it didn’t treat patients or provide therapy. Instead, Wilhelm Wundt studied the structure of human consciousness. The discipline grew from there in every direction — into schools, courtrooms, factories, military organizations, and eventually, into the product teams building the apps you use every day.
Today, psychology jobs span healthcare, education, business, technology, criminal justice, and public policy. If you’re drawn to understanding why people do what they do, that curiosity has a career path — and probably more than one. Here are 20 of them.
20 Psychology Jobs and Career Paths
- Behavioral Health Technician — Support patients in clinical settings
- Case Manager — Connect individuals to mental health and social services
- Clinical Psychologist — Diagnose and treat complex mental health conditions
- Community Health Worker — Bridge underserved populations to health systems
- Consumer Insights Analyst — Research what drives customer decisions
- Correctional Case Manager — Support rehabilitation within the justice system
- Forensic Psychologist — Apply psychology to legal cases and evaluations
- HR Analyst — Improve hiring and workforce strategy with data
- Industrial-Organizational Psychologist — Apply behavioral science to workplace performance
- Lab Coordinator — Manage day-to-day operations of a research lab
- Market Research Analyst — Analyze consumer trends to inform business strategy
- Mental Health Counselor or Therapist — Help individuals navigate mental health and life challenges
- People Analytics Associate — Analyze workforce data to guide organizational decisions
- Probation Officer — Supervise individuals serving community-based sentences
- Research Assistant — Contribute to studies of human behavior and cognition
- School Psychologist — Support student learning and social-emotional development
- Substance Use Counselor — Provide counseling and recovery support for addiction
- Talent Acquisition Coordinator — Apply behavioral insight to recruiting and hiring
- UX Researcher — Study how people interact with products and services
- Victim Advocate — Support individuals who have experienced crime or trauma
Clinical & Counseling
Helping People Directly
The most well-known psychology jobs are the clinical ones, and for good reason — the need is real. The U.S. is currently facing a significant mental health workforce shortage, and demand for licensed clinicians continues to grow.
- Clinical and counseling psychologists are projected to see 11% job growth through 2034, according to the BLS — much faster than average
- Substance use and mental health counselors are growing even faster, at 17% through 2034, with approximately 48,300 job openings projected annually
- Median salaries across this cluster range from $59,190 for substance use counselors to $95,830 for clinical psychologists
Clinical & Counseling Careers
Clinical Psychologist: Assess, diagnose, and treat mental health conditions using evidence-based therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). Requires a doctorate (PhD or PsyD), supervised clinical hours, and state licensure — typically an 8 to 12 year path from undergrad, but one of the most autonomous and well-compensated roles in the field. In a growing number of states, licensed psychologists with additional training can also prescribe medication.
Mental Health Counselor or Therapist: Work with people navigating anxiety, grief, relationship challenges, and life transitions. A master’s degree and state licensure are required for independent practice. These roles exist in private practices, community mental health centers, hospitals, schools, and increasingly, through telehealth.
Substance Use Counselor: Help individuals navigate recovery from addiction, providing counseling, crisis intervention, and connection to support services. Many positions are accessible with a bachelor’s degree and relevant certification, making this one of the more direct clinical paths for new graduates.
Behavioral Health Technician: Work directly with patients in clinical or residential settings under the supervision of licensed clinicians, implementing treatment plans and tracking behavioral data. Most positions require a bachelor’s degree and on-the-job training, one of the most accessible entry points into clinical work.
Case Manager: Connect individuals with the mental health, housing, employment, and social services they need. Case managers work in hospitals, nonprofits, community health organizations, and government agencies, and the role requires strong interpersonal skills and a working knowledge of social service systems.
One thing worth knowing before committing to the clinical path: the emotional load is real. Vicarious trauma and burnout are genuine occupational hazards, and students who go this route benefit from developing self-care practices early.
School & Community
Putting People First
- School psychologists earn a median annual salary of $86,930, with strong demand particularly in under-resourced districts
- Community health workers are projected to grow 11% through 2034, with about 7,800 openings annually
- Both roles are accessible with less than a doctoral degree — school psychology typically requires an EdS, while community health worker roles often require only a bachelor’s degree
School & Community Careers
School Psychologist: Support K–12 students’ academic success, social-emotional development, and behavioral health. Conduct evaluations, develop intervention plans, and collaborate with teachers, families, and administrators. Most states require a specialist degree (EdS) or doctorate.
Community Health Worker: Serve as a trusted liaison between community members and health and social service systems, particularly in underserved populations where access to care is limited. Community health workers do outreach, health education, and advocacy work — a bachelor’s degree is typically sufficient for entry-level positions.
Industrial-Organizational Psychology
The Business of Human Behavior
Here’s a fact that might surprise you: I-O psychologists are among the highest-paid professionals with a psychology background. The field has roots in World War I, when psychologists were brought in to help the U.S. Army screen and classify hundreds of thousands of recruits, an effort that laid the groundwork for modern personnel testing and HR as a profession.
- Industrial-Organizational (I-O) psychologists earn a median annual salary of $109,840 — the highest of any psychology specialty tracked by the BLS
- Entry-level roles like HR analyst and people analytics associate are accessible with a bachelor’s degree
- Overall, psychologist employment is projected to grow 6% through 2034, with I-O and organizational roles among the most in-demand in the private sector
I-O Psychology Careers
Industrial-Organizational Psychologist: Design and evaluate systems that make workplaces more effective — from hiring and onboarding to leadership development and culture change. A master’s degree in I-O psychology is the typical entry point, with doctoral training opening the door to research and senior consulting roles.
HR Analyst: Apply behavioral science to workforce data, analyzing turnover, engagement, and hiring outcomes to help organizations make better people decisions. Many positions are open to candidates with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and exposure to data analysis.
Talent Acquisition Coordinator: Support recruiting and hiring with an understanding of how human behavior shapes candidate experience and selection. Psychology graduates bring a natural advantage here: knowledge of bias, motivation, and interpersonal dynamics translates directly into building better hiring practices.
People Analytics Associate: Sit at the intersection of HR and data science, using statistical analysis to understand workforce trends and inform strategy. Quantitative coursework and familiarity with tools like R or Python are increasingly expected.
Research Psychology
The Foundation of the Field
Research psychologists study human cognition, behavior, development, emotion, and social dynamics, and their work feeds every other corner of the field. Clinical protocols, educational interventions, workplace policies, product designs: they all depend on what researchers discover.
- Research assistants and lab coordinators are among the most common entry-level roles for psychology graduates heading toward graduate school
- Psychology graduates with strong quantitative skills increasingly move into data analysis, behavioral economics, and public health — all fields with strong job growth
- Lab and research experience is one of the most influential factors in graduate school admissions across clinical, I-O, and experimental programs
Research Psychology Careers
Research Assistant: Contribute to academic or institutional studies of human behavior — collecting data, running participants through protocols, and supporting analysis. One of the best ways to strengthen a graduate school application.
Lab Coordinator: Manage day-to-day lab operations: scheduling participants, overseeing data collection, and training research assistants. Lab coordinators typically have more independence than research assistants and serve as a bridge between faculty and the rest of the team.
UX Research & Consumer Insights
Psychology Meets Technology
One of the fastest-growing psychology careers is user experience (UX) research. UX researchers study how people interact with products, apps, and services — running interviews, usability tests, and behavioral studies to help teams build things people actually want to use.
- BLS projects 15% growth in UX research roles through 2033 — faster than nearly any other psychology-adjacent field
- Median salaries range from roughly $95,000 to $130,000+ for senior UX researchers
- Most entry-level roles require a bachelor’s degree in psychology, HCI, or a related behavioral science
UX Research & Consumer Insights Careers
UX Researcher: Study how real people interact with digital products, identifying friction points that shape design decisions. UX researchers use many of the same methods as academic psychologists — interviews, surveys, observational studies, and usability testing applied to product development cycles.
Consumer Insights Analyst: Use behavioral research to help organizations understand what drives customer decisions. This role sits closer to marketing and business strategy, but draws on the same psychological toolkit: survey design, focus groups, and behavioral data analysis.
Market Research Analyst: Study market conditions and consumer preferences to inform business strategy. A bachelor’s degree is typically sufficient for entry-level positions, and the role exists across nearly every industry.
This is one of the fields where undergraduate experience matters most. Students who can point to a usability study they ran, or a research report they produced, have a measurable edge over candidates with equivalent coursework but no portfolio.
Forensic & Criminal Justice
In Service to the Public
Forensic psychology sits at the intersection of behavioral science and the legal system. It’s a field that looks glamorous on television and is considerably more rigorous in practice — heavy on documentation, ethical complexity, and exposure to difficult content.
- Forensic psychologists fall within the “psychologists, all other” BLS category, which reports a median salary of $117,750
- Probation officers earn a median annual salary of $64,520, with the top 10% earning over $106,290
- The broader psychologist category is projected to grow 6% through 2034, while community corrections roles remain steady with roughly 7,900 openings annually
Forensic & Criminal Justice Careers
Forensic Psychologist: Apply psychological expertise to legal cases, conducting competency evaluations, assessing risk of reoffending, and providing expert testimony. Most roles require a doctoral degree, and the work demands both clinical skill and a high tolerance for morally complex situations.
Victim Advocate: Provide direct support, information, and resources to individuals who have experienced crime or trauma. One of the most accessible entry points into the criminal justice space, with many positions open to candidates with a bachelor’s degree.
Probation Officer: Supervise individuals serving court-ordered probation, monitoring compliance and connecting them with rehabilitative services. A bachelor’s degree is typically the minimum requirement, and psychology training applies directly to the behavior change and case management components of the role.
Correctional Case Manager: Support incarcerated individuals or those transitioning out of the justice system by developing rehabilitation plans and facilitating reentry into the community. Psychology graduates who pursue this work often find it among the most meaningful applications of their training.
Choosing Your Degree: BA, BS, and What Comes After
Psychology programs typically offer two undergraduate paths, and the difference matters more than most students realize.
A BA in Psychology emphasizes understanding across the social sciences and humanities, pairing well with careers in counseling, social services, human resources, and education, as well as with graduate programs in clinical, counseling, or school psychology.
A BS in Psychology leans into statistics, research methods, and empirical science, building the quantitative foundation that I-O psychology, UX research, behavioral economics, and data-driven roles increasingly require.
At Champlain College, both tracks are available, and the distinction is built into the curriculum from day one. BA students follow a career-focused path toward counseling and social services; BS students build the analytical toolkit that opens doors in business, tech, and graduate research programs. Every Champlain major also includes 30 flexible elective credits — a full year of coursework to direct toward a minor, a second concentration, or career-specific electives, all without extending time to graduation. Students don’t just leave with a degree. They leave with a direction.
Building Experience That Sets You Apart
A psychology degree gives you a strong conceptual framework. What gets you hired, or into a competitive graduate program, is what you do with it outside the classroom.
Internships are the most direct path. Community mental health centers, hospital behavioral health units, HR departments, UX research teams, nonprofits, and criminal justice organizations all offer undergraduate opportunities. Even a single meaningful internship helps you confirm your interests, build references, and demonstrate applied skills.
Research experience is essential for graduate school and research-adjacent careers. Getting involved in a faculty lab — even in a supporting role at first — builds your understanding of methodology and gives you work to reference in applications.
Crisis line and peer counseling work provide direct clinical exposure without requiring licensure. Active listening, de-escalation, and documentation — these are the foundational skills clinical work is built on, and volunteer programs make them accessible to undergrads. Early certifications in motivational interviewing (MI), suicide risk assessment, or trauma-informed care also strengthen your profile.
Study abroad builds cultural competence, increasingly valued in clinical, community, and organizational roles. It tends to produce students with stronger self-awareness and adaptability, qualities that show up in both graduate program applications and job interviews.
Whatever experiences you pursue, document them. For clinical paths, that means de-identified case notes and outcome observations. For research, it’s posters, publications, or code. For I-O or UX, a project brief (problem, methods, insights, impact) goes a long way.
The goal isn’t to do everything. Psychology offers so many directions that students sometimes graduate without a clear sense of where they fit. Hands-on experience is how you figure that out.
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